I am just in the mood to drop this cookie-cutter craze and try something that no-one really thought of before.. I've spent quite a long time looking at all the combos and skills and haven't really thought of anything yet. The point of this thread is to think up a character that can be effective at PvP and if possible PvE while people see it and go "wow thats brilliant". Perhaps anyone could post a suggestion or idea that we could build on to make a new type of char?

Hunt3r_kill4

05-05-2005, 06:56

Well I dont know if Energy Denial Mesmer would qualify but....

Also a trapper would be kinda nice, bring back the good ol Dii memories.

Parker Bsb

05-05-2005, 14:33

Is it just me or is the elite spike trap really sweet? I'm thinking of making a "Trapper" with some either water elementalist skills (for the slow down) or mesmer skills.

I've never had a chance to try the skill out, but since we are sorta talking about unique builds here I'd like some feedback.

DIEnamic

06-05-2005, 08:41

Is it just me or is the elite spike trap really sweet? I'm thinking of making a "Trapper" with some either water elementalist skills (for the slow down) or mesmer skills.

I've never had a chance to try the skill out, but since we are sorta talking about unique builds here I'd like some feedback.

A trapper would be a great idea, seeing as people are easily lured into your pile of traps :p . I have never seen the "elite spike trap" before, but the whole idea of setting up traps sounds like a viable option especially when paired with a water elementalist (yes, water elementalist exist lol).

Aside from that, what about an Illusionary Weaponry char? How would I go about building a strong one? Any other suggestions on builds would be appreciated too.

Play a hit and run game, or prepare the battlefield as they are coming towards your location... then pound 'em with other knockdown skills to have some fun. (A trapper/earth elem could be pretty enjoyable too)

ANewMachine

06-05-2005, 18:59

Illusionary Weaponry builds are still quite common, though by making Hundred Blades elite they removed the most powerful combo (IW + HB = 68 dmg, ignores armor, to a group. Not too shabby, considering you can spam it fairly well). The ones I see most often are either R/Me using some of the Ranger attack-speed-upping skills, or Me/W using Flurry.

DIEnamic

09-05-2005, 03:19

Illusionary Weaponry builds are still quite common, though by making Hundred Blades elite they removed the most powerful combo (IW + HB = 68 dmg, ignores armor, to a group. Not too shabby, considering you can spam it fairly well). The ones I see most often are either R/Me using some of the Ranger attack-speed-upping skills, or Me/W using Flurry.

Alright, I tried the Me/W IW build, things did not go too well for me seeing as my DPS was matched or if not lower than the other warriors. The fact that this build didn't really put my Fiery Dragon Sword to use gave me a lingering bother everytime I activated Illusionary Weaponry. I'm not asking for suggestions on how to improve the IW build because its obviously not my style after trying it.

My next build looks like I might try a trapper-runner. Set traps and run to grab the relic (or flag, whatever they call it) at blazing speeds :D. I have never seen one of these, and it will feed my hunger to try something "new".

There are plenty of ideas, I just gotta keep an eye out for them when I play arenas. Suggestions for other builds would be appreciated very much.

Lucille Drako

10-05-2005, 16:22

my seond build, after getting a ranger/elem and a warrior/necro to lvls 17 and 16 respectively was a young girl we shall nickname... THE LEECH

basically all the hexes stack up and works with the posion arrows to stop an enemy in their tracks, to let your own warriors catch them, and sucks their health through the ground with the degen stuff. Perfect to support a warrior bashing their skull in. Works even better when friends rush to their aid- it degenerates the whole lot of them, and then I can switch targets and poison them too.

The best thing is, once you use all the hexes in a row and have virtually no energy left, you have time to let it build while still hurling poison arrows around, and health potions like trolls unguent and parasitic bond to give you plus 1 health regen, only cost 5 energy each.

After playing very little pvp in arenas to yaks bend, I got to the final of the hall of heroes on my first attempt, only dying once in the process. We only lost the final because our incredibly stupid monk (who was pretty good up to that point) went AFK in the FINAL!

Diceclock

10-05-2005, 18:05

People with Cure Conditions and Remove Hexes will be virtually immune to you. Your damage takes a lot of time to happen is the problem I see, and your healing is also slow.

Corrodias

10-05-2005, 19:13

i'm afraid you are mistaken, diceclock, oh master of all that is PvP strategy. Remove Conditions has an excruciatingly long recharge time, so you can hit someone with a couple of conditions right after he removes the others and he's stuck with them for nealy half a minute if memory serves.

Diceclock

10-05-2005, 22:10

i'm afraid you are mistaken, diceclock, oh master of all that is PvP strategy. Remove Conditions has an excruciatingly long recharge time, so you can hit someone with a couple of conditions right after he removes the others and he's stuck with them for nealy half a minute if memory serves.

There are many ways to lose conditions besides the spell you refer to, and there are many people on the battlefield who can carry those spells. Just because 1 individual may have one or none, it doesn't mean that their teamates don't. Hell I think there's an elementalist spell that the enemy can even cure you of conditions with.

With those factors in mind, it just doesn't look like the kind of total damage that would be difficult to heal your way through. Don't get me wrong I'm sure you'll kill a lot of noobs, but then we all kill a lot of noobs.

I didn't say it was a bad build, just not the best I've seen. I'm sure in the right hands it's very effective. My statement about Condition removers was more of a strategy suggestion, as in don't concentrate your damage on a condition removing type if you don't have to, like a Mes/Mo or something like that.

DIEnamic

11-05-2005, 09:38

my seond build, after getting a ranger/elem and a warrior/necro to lvls 17 and 16 respectively was a young girl we shall nickname... THE LEECH

basically all the hexes stack up and works with the posion arrows to stop an enemy in their tracks, to let your own warriors catch them, and sucks their health through the ground with the degen stuff. Perfect to support a warrior bashing their skull in. Works even better when friends rush to their aid- it degenerates the whole lot of them, and then I can switch targets and poison them too.

The best thing is, once you use all the hexes in a row and have virtually no energy left, you have time to let it build while still hurling poison arrows around, and health potions like trolls unguent and parasitic bond to give you plus 1 health regen, only cost 5 energy each.

After playing very little pvp in arenas to yaks bend, I got to the final of the hall of heroes on my first attempt, only dying once in the process. We only lost the final because our incredibly stupid monk (who was pretty good up to that point) went AFK in the FINAL!

Not a bad idea, although there are too many of those builds for it to qualify as "Unusual but effective". It would be great for random team matches but honestly I don't really see it working in more organized PvP. It looks too much like a sister build to the infamous Me/N DoT'er that we see too much now.

BTW, don't forget degeneration is capped at -10 :mad:

Lucille Drako

11-05-2005, 14:26

Not a bad idea, although there are too many of those builds for it to qualify as "Unusual but effective". It would be great for random team matches but honestly I don't really see it working in more organized PvP. It looks too much like a sister build to the infamous Me/N DoT'er that we see too much now.

BTW, don't forget degeneration is capped at -10 :mad:

well, like I said- I hadn't played much pvp at all, and seemed to get really far with the build on the few occasions that I did. nearly everyone I hit semed to stay green for a few seconds, and I know it isn't the monster degeneration required to physically kill someone, but it seems good enough to stop their attempts at healing while your team (warriors or elementalists) bashes them and does the damage. I didn't see anyone else doing the same- but then I only saw about thirty other teams in total over the last few days of pvp.

the build certainly needs some work- I'm currently trying to sigil capture the elite skill "poison arrow" and a few others and I'm wondering whether to switch to blood magic for healing and damage. "weaken armour" though, seems invaluble to help warriors knock off their targets super fast. Oh, quick edit- the trolls unguent being linked in to the wilderness survival (same as all other chosen skills) gives plus 8 health regen, but doesn't last long and the parasitic bond gives nothing until either the target dies or it runsout, and then it gives you about 92hp I think.

I just built a new bow with bits I unlocked, and it adds armour and duration of poison effects. (poisoners bow string) must remember to rebuild with a shorter range bow though- need the speed with such low damage)

degeneration capped? :eek: :( :mad:

Diceclock

11-05-2005, 18:20

i'm afraid you are mistaken, diceclock, oh master of all that is PvP strategy. Remove Conditions has an excruciatingly long recharge time, so you can hit someone with a couple of conditions right after he removes the others and he's stuck with them for nealy half a minute if memory serves.

I just looked it up. Mend Conditions has a 2 second recast timer, something I wouldn't qualify as excruciationgly long. Purge Signet is also pretty handy here, all conditions and hexes, 10 energy per. Upside no energy to cast, downside 30 sec recast.

Mend conditions heals you too, about as good as Orison. Anyone with that spell would cause a lot of trouble for this build.

secutor munk

13-05-2005, 14:17

multiple conditions like poison bleeding and crippling can be uber exloited with the mesmers epidemic spell...impose a few conditions on the monks for instance...sure the monks can quickly remove 1 condition but then suddenly the whole enemy team catches the conditions through epidemic the healers resources will be stretched to the max...combine this with big hitting AOE magic and your classic tight knit war party with the common stick together strategy are in a spot of trouble.

DIEnamic

14-05-2005, 12:20

multiple conditions like poison bleeding and crippling can be uber exloited with the mesmers epidemic spell...impose a few conditions on the monks for instance...sure the monks can quickly remove 1 condition but then suddenly the whole enemy team catches the conditions through epidemic the healers resources will be stretched to the max...combine this with big hitting AOE magic and your classic tight knit war party with the common stick together strategy are in a spot of trouble.

That sounds like a pretty good idea, so you pile on the conditions on someone then spread it throughout the team with epidemic. Would Me/N be best for this? You can tell your warrior teammate to sever artery and gash them while you use your Me/N conditions at the same time and pull the trigger with epidemic to cap it off. This seems like a very good team build and would make yourself a valuable asset to any team.

Stephen Hawking

14-05-2005, 18:39

Ranger disable with elem secondary.

Conjure lightning (+dmg for all your bow attacks)
tiger's fury (increased attack speed)
lightning javelin (for another interrupt and if a single warrior guns it for you, you can knock em down)
distracting shot or debilitating shot (I like deblitating a little more)
Concussion shot (its pricey, but doable with high expertise)
Whirlwind (for a panic, as well as mass knockdown)
Barrage
Dual shot

While you do have some good damage skills, mostly this build is about targetting one caster to take them down fairly fast in damage and energy or skills (i.e. concussive shot if you recognize it as a longer cast skill, otherwise deblitating shot spams along with dual shot for fast single target damage). You can also help out with a warrior rush via whirlwind as needed, same for taking down a single warrior attacking a monk or whatever with lightning javelin.

While you do kinda have the crutch of conjure lightning, it is mainly to have +dmg from a bow that has +dmg via enchantment.

TheNug

15-05-2005, 04:00

i like the idea of heavy hex builds because there really aren't many good hex removing spells.

usually how many people in a group carry a hex remove spell anyway? 1-4?lots of times the monks carry hex removal which can get interrupted. one of my character is a monk and in a heated battle i am usually too busy healing to remove hex.

heh it's really not unusual but it can be effective

scottajax

19-05-2005, 09:51

lol....well....ya guys wanna know my teams secret weapon in pvp? that would be me...the Me/E...cookie cutter? naw, got 1 spell for ya, arcane echo, i activate it as an enchant,next spell casted replaces it,interisting? i think so when i have 2 meteor storms raining hell on their team,one for the melee group,one for the casters...sure...the 80+dmg per hit is nice...but whats even better is the knock down and watching my buddies take em down while their healers are still picking themselves up off the ground...and best of all,it rocks PvE hard, lvl 17 i can play a vital dmg dealing role in the underworld, simple use to this class :glyph of lesser-arcane echo-meteor storm (or fire storm)-meteor (or fire storm): enjoy ^^

scottajax

19-05-2005, 09:54

oops,forgot to mention my other one...its an E/?? (cant remember) well,iz a monk killing crazy fool,lol, i hav max earth and energy storage, all ya do is throw on kenetic armor and rock armor (ur defense is comperable to a W's) stroll on up to their monks and start throwing stone daggers (with max energy storage u can throw soooo many) each dagger does 23ish dmg and it throws 2 at a time,may not seem like much but its like spamming flare but u dont die as easily, if they start to hurt ya throw on that healing per cast spell and ull b ok,and worst case u get mobbed by 2-3 warriors, use eruption,knock em all down,and do a quick retreat behind yours, but either way its a very sturdy build that gives casters and rangers fits, the only class that can really beat it 1v1 so far is a W, they are the best melee chars,gotta give em that ^^

Hart

21-05-2005, 01:01

Well, if you want to go for an unusual and effective PvP build, how about an energy denial R/N?

Wither and Malaise can both last upward of 30 seconds with high curses, and stacking them means -2 health and -4 energy regeneration for your opponent. On a caster, that means zero energy regeneration; on a ranger that means negative energy regeneration; on a warrior Wither alone will stop energy regeneration. The down side is that Malaise also gives you -2 energy regen; counter this with Troll Unguent and you're fine.

Start by picking a target and using Wither on them. Wait a second to see if they attempt to remove the hex; if so, Distracting Shot to disable their hex removal. Cast Malaise and begin using Debilitating Shots to drain their mana. Use Troll Unguent as needed to keep your health up and keep an eye out for the shot that makes you stop loosing health. Both Wither and Malaise stop when the targets mana reaches zero. When you stop suffering from the malaise, immediately recast Malaise and Wither in that order. You should have your opponent stuck somewhere between 1 and 4 mana, unable to regenerate but still unable to cast a spell. Maintain the hexes as needed, but do not kill the target - a dead target can be ressurected with a portion of their mana by a rez signet. A living caster with no mana gets to plink away with their wand/staff weapon until someone comes to their aid.

Wither and Malaise can both last well above 30 seconds, so it is easy to lock down two targets if they stay near one another and only moderately difficult to lock down three due to timing and healing issues. When you get the hang of it you can disable a caster very quickly, move on to his friend, and proceed to maintain the hexes while using your arrows to take down targets of opportunity.

Questions? Comments? Flames?

dgwnitro

21-05-2005, 18:04

very nice, gonna try it out tomorrow, only need to get wither then =/

where can i get it ?

great build though :happy65:

Bagel

22-05-2005, 05:15

Is it just me or is the elite spike trap really sweet? I'm thinking of making a "Trapper" with some either water elementalist skills (for the slow down) or mesmer skills.

I've never had a chance to try the skill out, but since we are sorta talking about unique builds here I'd like some feedback.

Air Elementalist have the skill called Gale which knocks the foe down, 5 energy and no casting time, the cool down is very quick. So if you use Gale while the enemy is over the Elite trap... i believe that can do some damage.

But, this skill works 50% of the time WHEN the skill level is 4 or under, not that big of a deal, if you get 5 points on to Air Magic Gale knocks down 100% of the time, which is also very effective for Warriors that invest in hammer mastery. This skill is also good for running away/chasing.

Hart

24-05-2005, 00:02

very nice, gonna try it out tomorrow, only need to get wither then =/

where can i get it ?

great build though :happy65:

Malus Somethingorother outside of Ember Light Camp in the same area as the <deity's> Cursed bosses. For whatever reason he glows magenta like a Mesmer boss, but uses Necro skills.

For the record, Gale causes Exhaustion, and if your target is over the elite trap he's going to get knocked down anyway so I don't see how it would help. I suppose if you wanted to use Gale you could use it with Barbed Trap instead of Spiked Trap and free up your elite for something else as the combination would do essentially the same thing.

DIEnamic

03-06-2005, 04:26

Here is a fun build. If you have a team that knows what they are doing, then it could be VERY powerful, yet unusual.

Skills: [Attribute] (Energy, Cast Time, Recharge TIme)
1) Arcane Echo [Illusion Magic] (15,2,30) Enchantment: If you cast a spell in the next 10 seconds, Arcane Echo is replaced with that spell for 20 seconds. Arcane Echo ends prematurely if you use a non-spell skill.

2) Echo [Illusion Magic] (5,1,30) Enchantment: For 10 seconds, Echo is replaced with the next skill you use. Echo acts as this skill for 20 seconds. This is an elite skill.

5) Resurrection Signet [none] (0,5,0) Signet: Resurrect target party member. You may use this skill only once per mission.

6) Your choice of ressurection spell.

7) Free slot

8) Free slot

The point of this is to use your spell copying and Mantra on Pacifism to pacify all their damage dealers. You could effectively take the warriors or rangers out of the battle if your teammates don't damage them. This build also plays double as a "Rezmer", 15 in fast casting will raise your allies before the enemy even knows what happened :D

Another fun build I came up with using the spell copying, not quite as effective (maybe I just suck)

Skills: [Attribute] (Energy, Cast Time, Recharge TIme)
1) Arcane Echo [Illusion Magic] (15,2,30) Enchantment: If you cast a spell in the next 10 seconds, Arcane Echo is replaced with that spell for 20 seconds. Arcane Echo ends prematurely if you use a non-spell skill.

2) Echo [Illusion Magic] (5,1,30) Enchantment: For 10 seconds, Echo is replaced with the next skill you use. Echo acts as this skill for 20 seconds. This is an elite skill.

7) Aura of Restoration [Energy Storage] (10,0,20) Enchantment: For 60 seconds, you are healed for 152% of the energy cost each time you cast a spell.

8) Resurrection Signet [none] (0,5,0) Signet: Resurrect target party member. You may use this skill only once per mission.

This build just spits flares out at sick speeds. I didn't spend much time with this, but I did have fun spitting flares out with fast casting.

Aside from those, how do you guys think a Beastmaster would do? I was thinking about using all the pet attack skills to take down enemies. It might be somewhate effective since no-one attacks pets. What would be a nice combination for a Beastmaster/Nature Ritual build?